1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic or electric apparatus such as a television receiver, an audio apparatus, an air conditioner, a personal computer, a music player, a car navigation apparatus, a game machine, or a DVD player which can be operated or controlled in response to external sound generated by a user. Furthermore, this invention relates to a method allowing a user to operate an apparatus through the generation of sound.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to equip an electronic apparatus such as a television receiver or an audio apparatus with a wireless remote control system having a transmitting unit and a receiving unit. In general, the transmitting unit is located outside the body of the electronic apparatus. On the other hand, the receiving unit is provided on the body of the electronic apparatus. The transmitting unit can be operated by a user. The transmitting unit sends a wireless signal of a user's command toward the receiving unit when being operated by the user. The receiving unit catches the wireless signal, and derives the user's command therefrom. Then, the electronic apparatus is operated or controlled in accordance with the user's command.
Japanese patent application publication number 2006-324952 discloses a television receiver equipped with a sound-responsive system for allowing the posture of a display to follow the position of a target user. The sound-responsive system includes a mechanism for changing the posture of the display, a plurality of separate microphones fixedly located in the front of the display, a memory storing previously-registered speech patterns of a target user, an analyzer, and a controller. The microphones convert received sounds into corresponding electric signals. The analyzer collates the electric signals with the previously-registered speech patterns to detect a speech given by the target user. As the target user moves relative to the display while uttering, there occurs a change in phase difference between the electric signals generated by the microphones regarding the detected speech by the target user. The analyzer senses the phase difference change, and thereby detects the movement of the target user. The controller actuates the display-posture changing mechanism in response to the detected movement of the target user, thereby making the posture of the display follow the position of the target user.
Thus, the sound-responsive system in Japanese application 2006-324952 controls only the single condition, that is, the posture of the display of the television receiver in response to the sound generated by the target user.
A typical wireless remote control system for an electronic apparatus is designed to control various conditions of the electronic apparatus. Accordingly, it is desirable to control various conditions of an electronic apparatus in response to sound generated by a user.